Shoe or glove buttoner



(No Model.)

E. O. WILLIAMS.

'SHOE 0R GLOVE BUTTONER.

No. 438,044. Patented Oct. '7, 1890.

| YERS e01, PNMO'LWHO.,WASKINUTON u c UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST O. \VILLIAMS, OF TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA.

SHOE OR GLOVE BUTTONER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Letters Patent No. 438,044, dated October 7,1890.

- Application filed ApriliV, 1890. Serial No. 347,001. (No model.) I

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST O. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Tallahassee, in the county of Leon, State of Florida, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Shoe or GloveButtoners, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

This invention relates to shoe or glove buttoners which are composed ofa wire shank having a closed loop or eye at one end for encircling thebutton and pulling it through the button-hole.

The object of my invention is to improve the prior device by providing anovel construction, whereby the loop or eye will not catch and tear theedges of the button-holes in pulling the buttons therethrough.

To accomplish this object my invention consists of a shoe or glovebuttoner composed of a shank bent at one end portion into a loop havingits extremity joined to the body of the shank, and one side member ofwhich loop is rectilinear and in alignment with the shank.

In the drawing exhibiting my invention the figure is a perspective viewof my improved shoe or glove buttoner.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates the buttoner-shank, composed ofa straight piece of wire having a handle 2 at one end, which in theexample shown is formed by bending the wire into ring form. This handle,however, may be otherwise constructed to suit the conditions required.

The end portion of the straight shank, which is opposite the handle end,is bent into an ob ong loop or eye 3, having its extremity 4 joined toor abutting againstthe body of the shank. This loop, instead of beingobo vate in outline, as usual in this type of buttoners, has the memberat one side rectilinear, as at 5, and arranged in alignment ,with thestraight shank in such manner that the closed loop is thrown to andprojects solely from one side of the shank. The object of this peculiarconstruction is to prevent this rectilinear side of the loop fromcatching into the edges of the button-holes when pulling the buttonstherethrough. Where the loop or eye projects laterally from oppositesides of the buttoner-shank, one of such lateral loop-extensions catchesthe side edges of the button-holes in buttoning a shoe or button and notinfrequently tears the same, while the opposite lateral extensionsoperate to unduly spread the edges of the button-holes apart, andthereby so distend them as to deface the nice appearance of the article.This objection is avoided by my peculiar construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- Ashoe or glovebuttoner composed of a straight shank having one end portion bent intothe closed loop eccentric to the shank, with one side rectilinear and inalignment with the shank and its terminal adjacent thereto, and theopposite end formed into a suitable handle, substantially as described.

ERNEST O. WILLIAMS; Witnesses:

L. B. WOMBWELL, J. B. CoLLINs.

